The company on everyone’s mind in the ongoing return-to-office debates is none other than Amazon. The global company’s decision to roll back hybrid work models and reinstate in-office mandates in January 2025 has raised eyebrows — and not in a good way.

While Amazon (and companies like them) may view this in-office mandate as a way to "restore" collaboration, will it instead stifle the very innovation it wants to improve?

In this episode of the Inclusion in Progress podcast, we talk about:

• Why in-office mandates hinder flexibility, which is a non-negotiable for employees today;

• The ways that innovation and creativity can thrive outside a shared physical workspace;

• How forward-thinking leaders like you can move beyond return-to-office or RTO mandates to embrace a version of distributed work that helps your teams thrive.

At Inclusion in Progress, we have utilized our three-step Inclusive Distributed Work™ framework to support companies with aligning their people-focused initiates with business critical objectives, to deepen their capacity to understand and address specific issues facing their globally distributed teams.

If you’d like to collaborate with us to implement our framework in your organization, email us at info@inclusioninprogress.com to book your free consultation call.

#returntooffice #leadership #inclusivedistributedwork #futureofwork

LINKS:

info@inclusioninprogress.com

www.inclusioninprogress.com/podcast

www.linkedin.com/company/inclusion-in-progress

Download our 2024 Whitepaper: "How Cybersecurity Companies Can Retain, Promote & Advance Women to Minimize the Gender Gap"

Read the full Amazon Message from CEO Andy Jassy: Strengthening our culture and teams.

Learn more about WFH Research’s findings on hybrid and remote work models.

Review the University of Pittsburgh - Katz Graduate School of Business’ study on Return-to-Office Mandates.

Want us to partner with you on building more inclusive distributed work? Get in touch to learn how we can tailor our services to your company’s DEI and remote work initiatives.

Read our Forbes features on Ways to Support Employee Mental Wellbeing, What Self Care Looks Like For Us, and How to Create Effective Online Diversity Training.

Learn how to leave a review for the podcast.